(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fixing device, an image forming apparatus, a pressure-applying device, and a pressing device.
(ii) Related Art
Electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, for example, generally include a fixing device that fixes an image to a recording medium, such as a paper sheet. The fixing device applies a pressure to the recording medium to fix the image to the recording medium. The fixing device is generally provided with a pressing device, which generates a pressing force by pressing a member that is in contact with the recording medium against the recording medium or another member. There has been a demand for an operational mode in which an envelope is used as the recording medium, and there has also been a demand for a function of setting the pressing force applied in the fixing process such that the pressing force is smaller in an envelope mode, in which an envelope is used as the recording medium, than in a normal mode, in which a paper sheet is used as the recording medium.